An occasional account of my Olympic-year Gold Challenge to run 2012 miles in various events in 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Stanley and I cross the finishing line at
Portsmouth on 23 December (note that I came first!), where I completed my
2012 in 2012 charity challenge. The 2012th mile was passed at Mile 24,
where I skipped through the seaweed and mud on the beach section and
baffled the runners around me with what must have seemed like a
premature celebration.

A million thanks to everyone who gave me
support and encouragement (and sponsorship) throughout the year, and
special thanks to the fellow runnerts who helped me through those tough
last couple of months. Too many of you to mention you all but you all
played a big part. Have a great Christmas, every one!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Before: Damn you, Caroline Williams, for getting me to sign up to this
Marcothon thing. I have already run four marathons in eight days this
month, with another to come on Sunday, to finish my ‘2012 in 2012’
challenge. I’m knackered and the last thing I want to do is to go out in
the cold again this evening. I just want a day off running to vegetate
and eat chocolate. You’ve already made me run – in the dark, in the wet,
in the cold – on at least three occasions this month when I wouldn’t
have done otherwise. And I’ve hated you every time I’ve had to do so!

After: Bless you, Caroline Williams, for getting me to sign up to this
Marcothon thing. I have already run four marathons in eight days this
month, with another to come on Sunday, to finish my ‘2012 in 2012’
challenge. I’m knackered and the last thing I wanted to do was to go out
in the cold again this evening. I just wanted a day off running to
vegetate and eat chocolate. You’ve already made me run – in the dark, in
the wet, in the cold – on at least three occasions this month when I
wouldn’t have done otherwise. And I’ve felt better every time for doing
so!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Dorset coast ultra hadf to turn into the Dorset coast marathon when I realised that there weren't going to be enough hours of daylight to see me round the final loop. I'd like to say that doing the shorter distance enabled me to take my time and enjoy the wonderful winter sunshine in one of my favourite parts of the world. I certainly took my time - so much so that even on the marathon distance I had only minutes to spare before the cut off at the final checkpoint - but my legs were so desperately tired that they couldn't have gone any faster if the entire 2012 in 2012 challenge had depended on it.

At one point, about eight or nine miles in, after the steepest cliff climb of the day, I was so tempted to follow an inland footpath sign pointing back to Lulworth that I even started unfastening the pins on my running number. I could find another race somewhere between now and the new year to make up the miles, I told myself, have a fried breakfast in a seaside caff and potter about looking for fossils while the waves lapped over the pebble beach.

The moment passed, thanks in no small part to two women who emerged onto the clifftop, gave me some cheery words of encouragement and said that I could always walk to the furthest checkpoint, get a lift back to the start and just enjoy the day. The idea of getting a lift back, short of some debilitating injury, didn't appeal at all. But they'd done enough to get my legs moving again. There were large parts of the day that I didn't enjoy at all, despite the sunshine and the scenery - I came closer to quitting on this one than any other event this year - but I made it into Lulworth as it began to get dark and so too, I'm glad to report, did the two women who kept me going when I was ready to stop.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A lazy couple of weeks (I’d love to call it tapering but I
cannot tell a lie) comes to an end on Saturday with the first of five marathons
in 15 days. This is make-or-break time for my ‘2012 in 2012’. I think if I can
manage the Endurance Life Dorset coastal run on Saturday and I stay free of serious injury
or illness I should be able to drag myself round the remaining 142 miles. I
swear every mile is getting longer though ...

Day five of the Marcothon today took me from Turnpike Lane to Tufnell Park Road. Yesterday it had to be 5k on the treadmill, which almost got me disqualified as it would have been against the rules if I didn't already do some of my training runs in the gym.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Nearly
dropped out on the first weekday of the Marcothon! I got back from a school trip to the
panto tired, hungry and cold and with just half an hour free before I was due to play five-a-side. I came up
with 101 reasons why I couldn't possibly find the time or energy to do both. None
of them were totally convincing, so I seized the half hour and went out
and ran 5k - can't quite believe it but I did!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Here I am feeling worn out and weary, slowing down with every event and wondering where I'll find the energy to finish the 2012 in 2012. Solution? Sign up for another challenge - something called the Marcothon, which involves running every day in December for a minimum of three miles or 25 minutes.

The first two days involved no more than I'd have been doing anyway: a 5k parkrun on Saturday and Mornington Chasers winter grand prix 10k on Sunday. Along with Friday's Serpentine RC 5k in Hyde Park, these have taken me to 1,870 miles in total, so 142 still to do. Since I make the rules for my challenge, I've decided that the Marcothon can count as an event - but only if I complete it. Which means that I've still got some very big hurdles to jump in the coming week, starting with an ultra on Saturday, a 10-miler on Sunday and three marathons in the following six days. I'm treating the Marcothon as an insurance policy in case anything goes wrong with any of these.

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About Me

is a London-based writer and editor who gave up blogging several years ago because he wanted to get out more. This year he might be getting out too much because he's doing a '2012 miles in 2012' Olympic-year challenge for various charities and in memory of his dad. He was persuaded, belatedly, to blog about it.
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